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No. 234,256. Patented No.v. 9,1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN Gr. DEVOE, OF KENTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO ALBERT O. RAMSEY, OF SAME PLACE.

M ETALLIC FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,256, dated November 9, 1880.

Application filed August 14, 1880. (N0 model.)

To all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN G. DEVOE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kenton, in the county of Hardin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Fences; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in ornamental metallic fences; and it consists in certain details of arrangement and construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter more fully described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent, respectively, in front and rear elevations, so much of an ornamental metallic fence as will be necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 3 is an end elevation, the pickets and ornaments being re moved. Figs. 4 and 5 are isometrical views of the two sections of a two-part clamp. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of said clamp. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are isometrical views of fastening devices for the ornaments. Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the rail, showing the manner of applying one of the clamp sections.

In the above figures of drawings like letters of reference are employed to indicate like parts wherever such may occur.

A represents the base, constructed in any preferred manner, and having a top plate, a, provided with a slot, to, upon which is supported the line-post B. This post I preferably make of U shape, as shown in Fig. 3, and at or near its lower extremity the front leg, I), is provided with a bolt-hole, and the rear leg, I), with a segmental slot, W, for the fastening bolts and nuts 11 b, respectively, which secure the post to the base, and upon which it may be readily adjusted forward or backward by moving it in the slot a, while its inclination forward or backward is regulated by means of the segmental slot 22 said slot describing an arc of a circle the center of which is that of the bolt b By means of this construction of base and post the latter may be adjusted in any desired position with relation to the stringers and pickets without disturbing the base.

0 represents the stringer, made of rolled channel-iron, having a front vertical plate, 0, a horizontal plate, 0, and a rear depending plate, 0 forming a channel, 0 between the lower half of said front plate and the rear pendent plate. The cross rail or stringer G is attached to the line-post by means of a twopart clamp, D E, and said clamp serves also to unite the ends of two adjacent stringers. It is composed of two sections, the upper section, D, of which consists of a plate, d, pro vided with a vertically projecting bearingplate, d, and rearwardly-projecting-arms 61 between which the front leg of the line-post passes, having plate d as a bearing. The projecting arms d have bolt-holes d and downwardly-projectingflanges d. Theformerserve, by means ofsui'table bolts and nuts, (1 to unite the sections D and E and the stringer or the adjacent stringer ends, while the latter overlap the section E, to prevent accidental displacement and hold the parts more rigidly together. The lower section, E, of the clamp is of such a configuration as to form a channel, 6, for the reception of the rear pendent plate, 0 of the stringer O, and to provide a bearing or seat, e, for said horizontal plate 0 of the stringer. The top plate, 6 of section E is provided with a slot, 6 that extends also through the channeled portion 6, and with bolt-holes 6 corresponding in location with those of the upper clamp-section, D, to secure the two together. It is further provided with a verticallyprojecting bearing-plate, 6 for the rear edge of the front leg of the post B when clamped to the stringer, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and partly in Fig. 10.

The attachment of the stringer or rail ends to the line-post by means of this clamp is effected as follows: After or before securing the post to its base the lower section, E, of the clamp is slipped onto the front leg, b, by passing the said leg into the slot 6 until its rear aye-51 g face abuts against the bearing-plate 0", when the post may be secured to its base. The two rail ends are then placed into the channel e, and the top section, I), of the clamp placed upon the horizontal plate 0 of the rail ends, and the two are securely bolted together, when the post and rails will be held firmly in position.

F is the picket, which may be of any desired form or configuration, either square, round. or of other shape. It is provided at a given distance from its lower extremity with a notch or recess,f, and at a given distance above said notch with a similar notch or recess, for purposes hereinafter described.

I represents the ornament, having two straight sides, 1', transverse brace i, and braces or arms 1', united together at top and bottom by the sleeves i 2', respectively, and through which the picket passes. The ornament is also provided with two segmental arms, terminating in a lug or hook, 1', that serves to suspend the ornament and its picket on the stringers.

The lower sleeve, i of the ornament is pro vided with a lug, 5'', adapted to fit or enter the notchfof the picket, and by means of which the picket and ornament are secured together, as plainly shown in Fig. 2. These notches also serve as a gage or guide to determine the position of the ornaments on the pickets, while the hook on the arms 2" serves to regulate the distance between two stringers, so that the parts may be readily put together without having recourse to measuring and leveling, as is the case in fences of this class as heretofore constructed.

The ornaments l are securely clamped to the stringers by means ot' the following devices: G is a clip provided with a semicircular body, g, and four hooks, y, and 11 is a- T-pin, the horizontal arm h of which has grasping or clamping lugs h, that grasp the straight sides of the ornament I when the shank h of the pin H is driven into the semicircular recess of the clip, between it and the front face of the vertical plate 0 of the rail C, from which it is suspended, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, .2, 7,8, and 9.

Instead ofprovidingthe clip with four hooks, it may have two only, the lower hooks being bent at right angles to form a bearing for the straight sides of the ornaments below the rail, as shown at Figs. 1, 2, and 9.

I prefer this latter construction of clip, as it facilitates the erection of the fence as well as the grading of it, as said clips, when simply hung from the rail, may be readily adjusted when the fence is erected on a grade, so that the pickets and ornaments will always assume a vertical position relatively to said rails, and I further avoid the difiiculty which arises with all clips that have to be slipped on the rail and that serve to clamp the ornaments, and which lies in the fact that if the thickness of the sides of the ornaments slightly exceeds that required, which can hardly be avoided when the ornaments are made by casting, the clip, when driven on, will break and fly off, which necessitates a disconnection of the rail from the line-post in order to slip on a new clip, as will be readily understood by all those conversant with this class of fences.

When the double-hook clip is employed upon fences that are to be erected on a grade or ineline the distance between the hooks thereof should be greater than the width of the front plate of the rail in order to adapt it for adjnstment to said grade.

Although the channel-rail shown and described may be slightly more expensive than the ordinary T-rail employed, I find it has many advantages over the latter form of rail, the principal one of which is, that it forms better bearing-surfaces and makesastronger and better fence, while it may be made nearly equally as light.

It will also be seen that by means of the above-described construction and arrangement of parts a fence may be erected in much less time than it takes to erect afence of the usual construction.

It will be understood that an ordinary straight post provided with the usual rearwardly-projecting pivoted brace may be employed instead of the U-shaped post shown and described. I prefer the latter construction, however, as it offers great advantages over the old form, being more solid and more readily adjusted upon the base.

Instead of forming notches in the pickets and providing the ornaments with lugs, this order may be reversed and the pickets may be provided with studs, and the sleeves on the ornaments may be slotted from top downward some distance, so that the picket will hang in the sleeve of the ornament; and if an ornament without a sleeve is employed it may be suitably recessed for the reception of said stud or studs. The form of ornament generally may also be varied without departing from the peculiar nature of the invention, so long as the opposite parallel sides thereof are retained and means provided for the attachment of a hook to hang the same on the stringer and lugs or equivalent devices to secure the pickets thereto.

I am aware that ornaments having curved sides have been e1nployed,in combination with clips having like projecting lateral arms, for the purpose of adjustment of the ornament and pickets to grade. 1 have found, however, that in practice, with such a construction, the fastenings or clips will frequently work loose and the ornaments and pickets become displaced by slipping in their fastenings, which necessitates the disconnection of the stringers from the line-post, the taking down of the ornaments, and supplying new clips or the tightening of the loose clips by means of wedges or other like devices. With ornaments having their opposite sides parallel andrectilinear this difficulty is entirely avoided, more especially when combined with the clip and T-pin hereinbefore described.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a metallic fence, the combination, with the base A, having the slotted top plate, a a, of the U-shaped post B, the rear leg of which is provided with a segmental slot, 6 and suitable fastening-bolts, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. In a metallic fence, the combination, with a line-post and a stringer or stringers, of a two-part clamp, D E, provided each with vertically projecting plates d 6", respectively,

substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. The herein-described clamp, composed of the section D, consisting of a plate, d, having perforated bent lugs (1 and a bearing-plate, d, and the section E, composed of a slotted and perforated top plate, 6 provided with a bearing-plate, e at the rear end of the slot, and a channeled and slotted portion, 6, having the bearing-surface 6', both combined and constructed to operate substantially as described.

4. In an ornamental metallic fence, the combination, with the picket and an ornament 0 having straight sides, as described, of the recessed clip G and T-pin H, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

5. In a metallic fence, a clip or clamp havin g a semicircular body. 9, provided with hooks g and laterally-projecting arms 9 in combination with the T-pin H, having the laterallyprojecting arms and clamping-lugs h, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

6. In an ornamental metallic fence, the combination, with a stringer and picket provided with notches f, of an ornament provided with ahook, i and lugs i substantially as described, for the purpose specified. 45

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN G. DEVOE.

Witnesses GEORGE A. BATESON, WM. SIFERD. 

